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Diplomats worldwide target Islamic State militants

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a media conference after a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. NATO’s chief says alliance foreign ministers are poised to make a number of key decisions, including the shift to a non-combat role for NATO-led forces in Afghanistan beginning Jan. 1. 2015. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a media conference after a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. NATO’s chief says alliance foreign ministers are poised to make a number of key decisions, including the shift to a non-combat role for NATO-led forces in Afghanistan beginning Jan. 1. 2015. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

By Associated Press December 3, 2014 1 min read

BRUSSELS (AP) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says a global coalition to defeat Islamic State militants will “engage for as long as it takes” to prevail.

Kerry was speaking Wednesday at the first meeting of foreign ministers and other top officials representing more than 60 counties and interest groups that are working to destroy the violent insurgency. The mostly Sunni militants have overrun much of northern Iraq and Syria over the last year.

The top U.S. diplomat says the coalition is also working to counter support that the Islamic State has generated elsewhere in the world. He says it may take years for the response against the Islamic State to be fully recognized.

It’s believed that thousands of foreign fighters have flooded Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State.